All Marketers Tell Stories

Every time you sneeze, Seth Godin writes a highly pertinent book about marketing. Apparently the title was changed from “All Marketers Are Liars” to appease a rattled readership. I doubt if that’s actually true, because every time I mention the title(s) of this book to people who are in marketing, they laugh, nod and concur. I read the book because I’m a freshly reborn freelancer. My reputation consistently lodges at the agencies where I work, but because I’m a “behind the scenes” person, well don’t get me started… I now believe that unless I begin to tell a compelling story all my own, I won’t be as able to sell my services on a broader scale. Now ordinarily, I wouldn’t be interested a book of this title, but Godin’s reputation as the author of “Permission Marketing” makes this book seem somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and nothing here contradicts that book. Godin simply asserts that we people don’t buy products or services, we buy stories that fit with our personal world view. As visual marketers we’ll do well to embrace this idea.